July lo, 1879] 



NATURE 



239 



but we cannot resist the temptation to cull the two follow- 

 ing gems :— 



H H H 

 P. 228- I I I 



" Boric Methide, B(CH3)3 H— C— C— C— H." 



I I 1 

 H B H 



/\ 

 H H 



H H 



P. 234— I I 



"Allylamine, N(C3H5)H2 NsC— C-C-H." 



H H 



It is a great pity the author ever meddled with graphic 

 formute — he may have some very original notions about 

 the constitution of organic bodies, but for his own credit 

 he ought to have made his constitutional and graphic 

 formulas agree. The only thing we ever saw at all ap- 

 proaching the preceding in ridiculous incongruity was the 

 following, handed to us by a beginner : — 



H H 



I I 



O 



1 I 

 Ammonic Nitrate, NOjCNHjO) N— N— H 



O 



1 

 H 



We kept this as a curiosity, little dreaming that we should 

 ever live to see it surpassed in a text-book. 



In no instance can we say that the information is com- 

 plete and satisfactory, while in very many cases it is de- 

 cidedly misleading. We fear that very few of the model 

 answers to the questions of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment would have been marked "-excellent" or even 

 "good'''' by the examiners. For instance — 



" 30. How can you detect the presence of nitrogen in 

 an organic substance ? 

 Ans. " See the estimation of nitrogen." 



We have looked again and again through the pages 

 referred to, and certainly there is nothing there about the 

 detection of nitrogen ; does the author know any differ- 

 ence between detection and estimation ? 



" 35. If an alkahne solution of potassic cyanide be 

 boiled what decomposition takes place ? 



" The formiate of potassium is formed and ammonia 

 thus— KCN -f 2H2O = KCOHo -f NH3." 



I ' This answer is brief, if not to the point, but what on 

 ■ earth is KCOHo ? 



" 74. How would you separate alcohol from acetic 

 acid ? 



"Acetic acid freezes at 17° C. or under, while alcohol 

 remains liquid at much lower temperatures." 



Very simple, but has the author ever tried it ? 



" 99- What chemical changes ensue when a mixture of 

 ethyhc iodide and zinc are heated to 150° C. in a sealed 

 tube ? 



" 2EtI -t- Zn = Znl -f "2C2H5." 



Is that all ? We fancied hitherto that the merest tyro in 

 chemistry knew better. We have neither space nor in- 



clination to give further specimens of these answers, but 

 let the reader refer to Nos". 100, loi, 102, &c., and judge 

 for himself if the answers are satisfactory. 



If we look at the arrangement of the book we must 

 admit that we can find no sequence or logical connection 

 between one part and another. Terms are employed 

 before being properly defined, and often without being 

 defined at all. We most sincerely pity the students who 

 may attempt to learn organic chemistry by following the 

 order of this book without having many a missing link 

 supplied. Under the head " Alcohols " we have three 

 mentioned— iNIethylic, Ethylic, and Phenylic; and by 

 referring back to the "Theory of Compound Organic 

 Radicals," we find mention made of several others, but 

 no scientific arrangement in series and no general 

 methods for the synthesis or preparation otherwise of the 

 various terms of each series. The same objection applies 

 more or less to the treatment of the ethers, aldehydes, 

 acids, and anhydrides. By the way, we have not often 

 seen carbamide or urea called a diamine, nor ethylic 

 butyrate, CsHjCOEtO called " butylic ether;" that term 



CHI 



is generally resetved for p^jr" \ O. 



There are several pages giving nothing but the names 

 and formulae of compounds without any attempt to give 

 their properties, their connection with one another, or the 

 methods of preparing them ; a few are referred to in 

 other parts of the book, but necessarily they come before 

 us then as isolated units and not as closely allied members 

 of a consecutive series. 



As to the language we need say but little. It is gene- 

 rally awkward or ambiguous, and often incorrect. The 

 way pronouns and conjunctions are employed is some- 

 times alarming ; in one paragraph of very moderate 

 length we have the little word or occurring at least nine- 

 teen times, until we begin to think that the author has 

 been taking the Apostle Paul for his model. In other 

 places the pronoun it keeps dancing before our face 

 like some imp, peering out of the most unexpected 

 nooks and corners. Here is a model sentence — "A sub- 

 sidence of temperature and an almost total absence of 

 precipitated iodine after a few drops of the liquid remain- 

 ing in the flask is boiled with HNO3." What is boiled? 

 is it the subsidence of temperature ? 



We have by no means pointed out the worst errors — we 

 have purposely confined our remarks to the most ele- 

 mentary, and we think the reader will now be able to 

 answer for himself whether the present author " knows 

 his subject and knows how to teach it," or not. 



One extract more and we have done with the book and 

 its author, who says on p. 61 : — " Nitrous oxide and car- 

 bonic anhydride are other anaesthetics." Well, so they 

 are, and we could only wish some people had the tooth- 

 ache "awful" and had the latter anaesthetic administered 

 to alleviate their pain, and ot/rs. 



As we have said before, we have reviewed this book as 

 a sample — and not the worst — of an ever-increasing class 

 of publications, and we would ask teachers is it any 

 wonder that "science teaching" has in many instances 

 become a byeword and a reproach .'' Can we expect any 

 different result until all sham-books and cram-books are 

 consigned to the oblivion they so richly deserve ? 



E. H. 



